How To Save A Life

Chapter Ten

"Matt, go set those up on fallen trees or any high surface," I told him. He just shrugged and went wandering around, looking for a place to put them. "Hey, you can practice with my dads rifle!" I called out to him.

"If I promise to practice with you, will you stop begging me to tag along with you in the shooting?" He called back as he placed the cans on a fat log near the woods.

"Only if you say you'll join me!"

He sighed once he was done placing the cans and walked over. "I don't know yet. I'll practice and if I'm feeling up to go on with the attack, I will."

"Thanks." I pulled out my dads rifle and handed it over to him. "You can use this."

Matt took the rifle and eyed it for a moment before looking back at me. "Is it loaded?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I loaded all of them this morning to save time."

He chuckled and looked at the gun again. "That can't be safe."

I shook my head. "It's not. Now, come on." I ran around him towards the area where the cans were. I focused for a bit on how far I should be from the cans. I eventually found the right distance and stood there, waiting for Matt to join me by my side. "I'll shoot cans one through five and you shoot cans six through ten straight after me." Matt nodded and watched as I pumped my shotgun and aimed at my row of cans. After a quick moment I shot the gun, hitting the first can and knocking it off the log. I concentrated and pumped the gun again and shot the second can. Matt jumped a little at each gunshot. I pumped again and again. Hitting all the cans one at a time with no misses. Proving that I have done this plenty of times before. "Piece of cake," I said and put the gun over my shoulder. "Now, it's your turn."

"This is a weird feeling," Matt said as he tried to aim the gun at the cans the best he could.

"It's weird at first but you'll get the hang of it after a while. Just try and keep it steady."

"Okay." He nodded and focused back on the gun. He took a deep breath before pulling the trigger, causing him to jump back a bit. The bullet missed the can and hit the log instead.

"It's okay. Just aim a little higher but not too high."

He nodded and aimed again at the can. This time holding the gun higher. He took a breath and pulled the trigger. I watched as the bullet soared and went straight into the can. He stood and stared in astonishment.

"Yeah, that's how it's done!" I cheered for him and pat his back. I cupped my hands around my mouth like a megaphone. "Watch out! Matt Taylor is going to screw you all up!"

Matt laughed. "Shut up. I still have four cans I need to hit."

I pat his shoulder. "Okay, do it. No pressure."

He rolled his eyes and turned to me. "You know when you say no pressure it adds pressure?"

I chuckled. "Then forget I even said a thing."

He chuckled back. "You're sick, man." He held the gun up and shot towards the second can only to achieve in hitting a nearby tree. It took him a few minutes before he finally hit the can and another few minutes before he got the hang of it.

"This is going to be awesome," I said and held tight onto my gun. "I could see the headlines now. Two Youths Commit Deadliest School Massacre in American History."

He laughed. "Yeah. Our friends and parents will be blaming themselves for our rampage."

I chuckled and pumped my shotgun. "No ones to blame for this other than me. Finally things will be put right." I held my gun out in front of me and shot a bullet at a tree. Tree bark flying everywhere. "God, I can't wait."

KNOW THE SIGNS:

-A strong fascination or obsession with firearms can be a warning sign.

-Unsupervised, illegal and/or easy access to firearms, or bragging about access to firearms, can be a warning sign.

-Lack of coping, anger management and/or conflict resolutions skills.

-Recruiting a friend to join an attack.

-Homicidal ideation.

-Negative role models or peer groups.